Destiny's Mark
by BlueCaramel
Summary: Hermione is Marked. She has the Mark of Destiny embedded on her, as does her mate that she is destined for. Now in her seventh year, Hermione finds that her time is running out to find her mate. Her Mark has gone into the second stage and turned into a curse which may become life threatening. But what will she do when her mate turns out to be none other than Draco Malfoy? AU
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Oh the joys of owning the world of HP, joys that sadly, only JK will ever experience. In other words, JK owns everything but the plot._

**Chapter 1: The Mark**

Hermione undid the top button of her shirt and pulled it down her shoulder to expose her collar bone. She was standing in front of a mirror in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, trying to tune out Myrtle's insistent babbling. Her efforts were quite successful as she had been doing this since first year.

In the reflection, she saw herself. She also saw the familiar mark of a fern, embedded in her skin. Not any different than when it had first appeared there.

She let out a resigned sigh, and redid her uniform. Myrtle was still talking, asking something about her 'tattoo'. Hermione didn't answer of course, the less any one else knew about her situation, the better.

Myrtle already knew more than Hermione would have liked. Myrtle knew that the situation went a little deeper than just a silly tattoo that Hermione wanted to keep hidden, but she didn't have a clue as to what it really was.

Myrtle was there when Hermione had first discovered the mark, and she had been there every time she went to check on it. Through the years, they had become friends of a sort. They came to each other and sometimes talked for hours on end and it was because of this friendship that Hermione trusted Myrtle to keep her secret. That, and Hermione threatening to never come back if she did, which meant Myrtle would lose the little company that she got. Usually, Hermione would patiently listen to Myrtle as she rambled, but today Hermione wasn't in the mood.

She looked at herself in her reflection again, and repeated the mantra that she had gotten accustomed to. You are strong. You are independent. You have a choice. After her breathing went back to normal, Hermione headed out the door. Try as she might, she couldn't stop her mind going over the passage that she had read so many years ago.

_Destiny's Mark. Destiny's Mark is one of many of the Wizarding World's unexplainable anomalies. When two that are destined for each other meet, the mark appears. The mark is one of the Maidenhair fern. This fern is believed to grow as the bond between the destined couple, grows. The Mark always resides on the persons left side of the body, above their heart. Because of this, the Mark tends to be hidden on a persons body._

_In the past, only two cases of the Maidenhair's Mark have been recorded, and both times, the couples found love in one another, no matter the situation. Some might say that this mark is a blessing, guiding you towards your soul mate, but the Maidenhair Mark also has a downside. If the couple that are destined take too long to unite, then the mark starts to turn into a curse, much like the affects of a Veela pining for a mate that rejects them. Because of this, Destiny's Mark has been considered to some as the Maidenhair's Curse. If, for some reason, they destined couple do not unite with their destined mate after a certain period of time, then the mark will start acting like a poison to the body, making it weak and weaker._

_Marked mates find that they are drawn to each other. At first, they will not be able to explain this attraction. At first, this attraction will be purely physical, but as the destined mates spend more time with each other, they will find that the attraction will go deeper, becoming emotional as well._

_In one of the two recorded Maidenhair Mark cases, one of the spouses passed away in an unexplained accident, and her mate died soon after. Some say that he died from having to carry the burden of the mark's curse combined with the grief of his lost love._

Hermione sighed. She did not want die to a tragic death because she couldn't find her so called 'destined mate'. She had been looking for the seven years that she had been at Hogwarts. She had been able to cross a few people off her list, but had not gotten very far. Though she couldn't be blamed. It wasn't as if she was going to go around the whole school pulling boys shirts down until their shoulders were exposed. No matter how tempted she was to get her search over and done with.

The excitement of having this mark growing on her had worn off during third year, and now she was starting to find the search a bit tedious.

How on earth was she going to find this 'mate' out of all the males at her school. The mark was not age specific, but this year, she was able to confirm that her mate was indeed in her year. She had read that if she was away from her mate for a long period of time, her mark would start to fade, causing it to ache. The mark had been there her first year, and had shown no signs of fading all the way up to seventh year, which meant that her mate had to have been in the same year as her all throughout Hogwarts, otherwise her mark wouldn't have been consistently there the whole time. That meant that about half searching had been for nothing these past years.

She sighed yet again, and made her way down the corridor, headed towards the quidditch pitch. Though she usually wasn't a fan of the brutal sport, she quite excited to watch the Gryffindor vs Slytherin match, though she would still cringe when someone got hurt. Everyone got excited when these two house faced one another, as they were the strongest out of the four, and almost matched in skill level. Gryffindor still tended to better the other house just slightly though.

"Hermione! Over here!" Hermione turned towards the voice and saw Ginny waving at her happily. Hermione made her way over to her friend. Normally Ginny would have been out there on the pitch, but she had hurt her leg playing the last match, and Harry had insisted that she sit this one out.

"Hey Ginny, did I miss anything so far?" She squeezed into the seat next to her friend.

"Not much, the games only really just started to pick up." Ginny grinned, Gryffindor was leading by 20 points already, and that was a lot considering how close Gryffindor and Slytherin games were.

Hermione turned her attention back to the players. Soon, she was engrossed, watching them. Slytherin had just scored, closing up the gap between the points.

Players were whizzing past each other, with speed that Hermione had never managed to accomplish. Harry dodged a bludger, and she winced when she saw the ugly ball whizz past his head. It had been less than a fingers length away from hitting him.

He continued on flying, his eyes searching the entire time for a flash of gold. His cheeks were flushed red, and his hair was whipped back in a way that only wind could accomplish. He looked as if someone had injected him with adrenaline. She knew how hard the Gryffindor quidditch team had been practising for this game, both houses wanting the pride that came with winning over their rivals.

Hermione moved on from Harry, and found herself watching Malfoy. He did not seem on his game today. His movements and reactions were a lot slower than usual. He was also searching for the illusive snitch, but he didn't seem to he be doing it wholeheartedly. Hermione frowned at this, as she knew that in game against Gryffindor, the Slytherin seeker would have usually been giving it his all to win, but she just brushed it off. It wasn't her problem anyway, so she carried on watching the game.

The score was 90 all. They were tied with Slytherin, and this seemed to rally up the crowd even more. Even she started to join in with the enthusiastic shouts that her house was chanting.

Ron saved another goal, just nicking it before it got into one of the hoops. The crowd cheered even louder. He grinned when Gryffindor started chanting his name, he was really on him game today. Another Slytherin tried to score while he was distracted, but Ron saved it again, though Hermione could tell that he had exaggerated it a bit, making it look more dramatic. The crowd however, went wild.

That was when a bludger decided to aim for him. It went hurtling towards him, gaining speed. Ron sat, oblivious. Just as the the ball was about to hit him though, one of the Gryffindor beaters whacked it away from him, in the other direction. Hermione exhaled shakily, this sport was going to be the death of her. The crowd cheered again, though some jeers could be heard from the Slytherin stands.

Hermione watched at the bludger went flying in another direction.

Heading straight for Malfoy.

He was sitting, facing the direction that the bludger was coming in, and had a clear view of it. Anyone with common sense would have immediately tried to get out its way, but it looked like he wasn't going to. His eyes were drooping, and it looked as if he wasn't even focusing on the game anymore.

He caught sight of the bludger too late. His eyes widened and even though he tried to swerve out of its way, he was too late.

Hermione tried to look the other way but it seemed she couldn't tear her eyes away from the scene happening before her. She watched as the bludger collided with his torso. Hard. He got knocked off his broom, and Hermione watching, feeling sick, as she watched his body tumbled down, down, down, and land with a 'thump.' The cheering came to an abrupt halt. Some shrill screams could be heard, the loudest coming from one Pansy Parkinson.

People immediately went to his aid, and the game momentarily paused as they all watched the blonde haired Slytherin get rushed to the Hospital Wing, looking very much dead. His body seemed to be jutting out in an odd direction.

In the end Gryffindor won by default, and they all headed back towards the school. It seemed that the while school was speculating about a certain blonde haired Slytherin, not the actual quidditch game they had just watched. It had been a while since someone had gotten that seriously hurt, especially for Malfoy. Usually, he was too on his game to get hit by a bludger.

"Hey Hermione! We're heading back to the common room to celebrate! You coming?" Ron came up behind her and slung his arm around her shoulder, grinning.

"Uh, sorry Ron. I don't really feel up to it. I might join you guys later." Ron shrugged and went off with the rest Gryffindor, shouting a chant that he had made up for Gryffindor.

She didn't know why she had turned down his offer, but for some reason, she just didn't feel up to it. Hermione walked down the corridor, planning to head to the library. She was musing over something they had learned in Transfiguration, when the suddenly, the walls started to spin around. She clutched her head, and her eyes squeezed shut as a wave of nausea hit her. She felt her knees go weak as her surroundings started to blur.

She stayed conscious long enough to feel herself fall to the cold floor. Her vision went black.

_Depending on the feedback I get, or lack of, will decide if I continue with this._

_So... Uhhh... Review with your thoughts if you want more!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: the only time in my life when I will ever own the wonderful world of HP is when I'm charged with being clinically insane, in other words JK owns everything (including any familiar things you might see) but the plot. Seeing a pattern yet?_

_Sorry that I updated a later than I said I would! I just kept writing and writing, then the chapter got waaay to long so I spilt it into two. _

_Thanks to everyone that favourited or followed this story! A special thanks to the reviewers! I loove reviews! All of you amazing people are the reason I am updating! I also welcome constructive criticism with open arms, it helps me improve my writing, so feel free to point flaws out to save me from embarrassment!_

**Chapter 2: The Hospital Wing**

Hermione was woken by the sound of obscenely loud clinking. There was a dull throbbing in the back of her head and she felt extremely drowsy, wanting nothing more than to throw the covers over her head to block out the bright light that was assaulting her eyes.

"Ah you're awake miss. Granger."

Her focus shifted to the woman standing by the bed she was lying in. Madam Pomfrey was next placing a greyish coloured liquid on the stand next to bed.

Hermione brought her arms to either side of herself and used them to prop herself up. Her limbs screamed and shook in protest at the movement. The moment she put weight on her arms, they gave out from under her causing Hermione to give out a little yelp in surprise. She fell back on her bed and groaned when jolts of pain went though her. The throbbing in her head intensified as she landed on a pillow that seemed to be as soft as a rock.

"Does you're head hurt Miss. Granger?"

Hermione nodded.

"Must have hit when you fell." Madam Pomfrey stated before she took out her wand and pointed it at her forehead, "Episkey."

Hermione's head suddenly felt very hot, then, as quick as it had come, it went away. She slowly exhaled all when the pain in her head disappeared all together.

It was then that Hermione took in her surroundings. Rows of beds with pristine white sheets with separators between each one. She recognised the Hospital Wing with a start and mentally scolded herself for not noticing something as important as her surroundings, sooner.

"W-what happened?" Her voice sounded groggy from just having woken up.

"It seems, Miss. Granger, that you fainted. A student found you lying unconscious in the corridors and brought you in here." Madam Pomfrey said, her back to her as she busied herself with the viles on her stand again.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"For a day."

"A day! What about my cla-"

"Miss. Granger," Madam Pomfrey said, holding up a finger and stopping her mid-rant. "Don't worry, your teachers have been notified about your condition and have given you time to catch up on the work that you've missed. Classes for today end in around ten minutes, so there's no point of you to be fussed about it. Everything's sorted."

Hermione visibly relaxed, "Thank you."

"I checked your vitals earlier on and it seemed that everything was in perfect health, though you fainted from what seemed like lack of strength. Here, I want you to drink this Invigoration Draught," Madam Pomfrey picked up the vile of greyish liquid and handed it to Hermione, before she could get her grasp on it though, Madam Pomfrey added, "I do however, suggest that you try to sleep more, eat more, and drink plenty of water to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"I will, I guess I was just getting to focused on studying already." She lied, and threw back the Invigoration Draught.

Just then, the doors were swung open with a loud 'bang', nearly causing Hermione to choke on the Draught, and two third years ran it, one carrying an infant in the crook of their arm. Immediately, they both started to explain what had happened at the same time.

Hermione only heard bits of their jumbled ramblings, "...potions... shrinking potion... tripped... spilt..." At this point their voice got too hysterical for her to hear the rest, but she didn't need to hear it to understand the situation.

So did Madam Pomfrey it seemed, and headed towards them, muttering something about how dangerous our curriculum was.

Hermione watched them for a bit, not sure of what she should of with herself. She eased herself out of bed, and was just about to leave when Madam Pomfrey turned around and said, "Don't leave just yet, I'll tend to these students first then I'll check to see how you are."

Not having the energy to reply, Hermione simply nodded her head again in consent. She sighed and went to lie down when she noticed a that at the far end of the room, was a single occupied bed. The curtains were drawn around it so you couldn't see who was behind them.

A frown graced Hermione's features. She felt the inexplicable urge to go and investigate, though she knew full well that it was not she had authority to and that the curtains were probably drawn for a reason.

She tried to ignore it and lay back down to wait for the Draught to kick in. It didn't seem to working at the moment, she felt as exhausted as she was before.

Unconsciously, her eyes shifted back to the far corner of the room. Who was behind it? And why did she want nothing more than to run over to see?

She looked over to Madam Pomfrey and saw that she was still feverishly fussing over the infant third year student. She wasn't even so much as glancing I'm Hermione's direction.

At this, Hermione nervously bit her lip and made up her mind. She gingerly lowered herself to the ground, then proceeded to hobble to the bed. As she got closer, her curiosity won over and she completely forgot about her weak state.

When she reached the bed, she hesitated before she slowly pulled back the curtain.

She peered inside, her gaze landing on the ashen face of a boy. She would not have recognised Draco Malfoy had it not been for his iconic white blonde hair. Hermione looked over her shoulder to see if any one had seen her, but attention was still trained on the third years. She looked from Malfoy to Madam Pomfrey, who was busy looking for something, and back again. Without a second thought, Hermione stepped inside the curtain and realised that this was one of the few times that she had seen him without having him insult her. For some reason, she couldn't help but take this opportunity to study him. At the moment, he was just another ordinary boy, not Draco Malfoy, muggle hater extraordinaire.

Gone was his ever present smirk or scowl, replaced with a peaceful expression, one that Hermione had never seen on him before. She could have sworn she saw his eyelids flutter, but she dismissed it. On close examination, she could see that his skin was absolutely flawless, something that Hermione knew many girls tried, and failed to achieve. His eye lashes were surprisingly long, a feature that yet again, many girls wished they had. His face shape was sharp and angular, but this only added to his aristocratic look. He was almost pleasant to look at. Almost.

Her gaze drifted lower to his torso. When she saw the Slytherin quidditch robes he was wearing, yesterday's incident came back to her and she cringed. That hit with the bludger had been a hard one, you could have almost heard the snapping of ribs from the gruesomeness of it. While now, he looked perfectly fine, Hermione shivered wondering what had to have been fixed and knitted back together for him to be back at this state. He was probably in an awful lot of pa-

"Checking me out Granger?"

Hermione nearly jumped in shock when she heard the presumably unconscious blonde speak, with his infamous smirk gracing his lips. She stared at him wide eyed and couldn't help but gape. At her reaction, Malfoy's smirk grew in what looked suspiciously like amusement. This snapped Hermione out of her daze, and she composed herself again.

She put on her most business like voice and prepared to bluff whatever came out of her mouth, "Of course not, but as a fellow Head, it's my duty to check to see your health and if it will possibly affect our schedule."

"How considerate of you." He dead panned. He was still smirking, but the amusement didn't seem to reach his eyes. They themselves were unreadable and seemed completely detached to the emotions he was showing.

"So, uh, how are you?" She asked this mostly because it went along well with the lie he told, though a minute part of her was asking because she was genuinely concerned. These past weeks, she had caught him, more than once, staring off into space, just like he had at the quidditch game. Something was bothering him.

"I'm fine." Malfoy replied, not missing a beat.

"_Right_." Hermione couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. She looked him in the eye, and said in a soft voice, "Now how are you _really?_"

He didn't answer her straight away this time. Instead, his eyes narrowed slightly and he stared at her intently, gouging whether or not she was sincere or if she had ulterior motives. He must have decided on the latter, because when he finally replied, he wore another unconvincing smirk, "As I said Granger, I'm perfectly fine. My condition won't disrupt the oh so important schedule."

Hermione was tempted to push him a little bit further for taking a jab at her, but decided to leave it. What was going on in Draco Malfoy's personal life was none of her business.

She sighed and looked around, noticing for the first time how bare it looked. There was not one get well card, or get well chocolate, or anything really. She knew that Slytherins didn't often show affection towards others, but she was expecting _something_. Wasn't he the so called "Slytherin Prince" after all? Malfoy didn't seem to notice this, and continued staring at her, non plussed.

Hermione, determined not to squirm under his gaze, turned around to leave, drawing open the curtain and stepping out. Before she let the curtain fall back into place though, she looked over her shoulder to the blonde Slytherin and said in her sincerest voice, "Get well soon Malfoy," and left. She completely missing the look that came over Malfoy's face.

Hermione walked back to her bed and sat down on the edge of it, waiting for Madam Pomfrey. She started swinging her legs and humming to give herself something to do, not noticing that she no longer felt tired.

_Review for more!_


	3. Chapter 3

**SORRY SORRY SORRY for the late update! I'm still here! For future reference I know not to try and write a whole chapter based entirely on the line "They get detention," writers block is inevitable. **

**Chapter 3: Detention**

Hermione had overslept. Her alarm usually woke her up, but she seemed to have slept through it as she should have been awake a while ago. She jumped out of bed and flinched when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It was as if someone had kicked her there repeatedly and then chucked a bowling ball at her. It was a mystery as to how she could have gotten injured, as she was perfectly fine the night before and hadn't done anything physically dangerous at all lately. Nevertheless, the pain she felt was definitely real, and she winced every time she moved. She glanced at her clock and she decided to ignore it. She was already late enough, she could get it checked put later if it got any worse.

Hermione threw on her uniform, and attempted to tame her wild mane of hair before she gave up like she did every morning and headed to the great hall. Breakfast was already nearly half over by the time she walked through the double doors. People were already starting to file out, having already eaten. She made her way over to the Gryffindor bench and plopped down next to Harry.

"Morning," she greeted, still out of breath from her run walk there. Head girl had to set an example, and breaking the rules by running in the halls was not one of the things she aspired to do.

"Mormin," Ron said, looking up from his plate with cheeks full of sausage.

Hermione started filling her plate with food she knew she wasn't going to be able to stomach.

"So why are you late?" Harry asked.

"I slept through my alarm. I've never slept through my alarm before, but I did this morning. I must have just had a late night and was too tired." She purposefully left out the stomach pains, though she didn't know why.

"Sho I 'eard somefin inchestin dis mornin," Ron said, both cheeks stuffed with food.

"Swallow before you talk." Hermione reprimanded almost automatically, not even looking up from her plate.

He rolled his eyes but swallowed before saying, "So I heard something interesting this morning. According to Dean, who heard from Seamus, who overheard some sixth year Slytherins saying that Malfoy quit quidditch! So unless they can find a seeker as good as Malfoy or even remotely close to Harry skill wise, we're sure to win every game!"

Hermione was pretty sure that Ron was oblivious to the fact that he had just complimented Malfoy during his mini rant.

"Isn't this great?!" Ron was grinning widely.

"I don't think you should be this excited over another teams demise. Besides, Malfoy probably only pulled out from the fact he was seriously injured."

"Who cares? It's Malfoy! And it's the Slytherins we're talking out here, not just any other team. Watching their faces as we beat their asses every game will be so freakin amazing!"

It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes.

Ron ignored her and carried on, "And have you heard about the Hufflepuff team captain? He's thinking of dropping out! I guess he was getting tired of his teeth getting knocked out."

At this point, Hermione tuned out of their conversation. Quidditch was not really something she liked to talk about in her spare time. She had tried many times before to redirect the conversation, but the subject always seemed to pop up again when Ron was there.

She sat quietly and ate her breakfast, though her appetite seemed to have disappeared, he wasn't going to starve herself.

Her scrambled egg was halfway to her mouth when she felt it. A small tugging sensation in the left side of her chest. Her fork dropped with a loud clatter when she realised what it was, "I - I've got to go." She stood up so fast, she nearly knocked over her goblet of pumpkin juice.

She grabbed her bag and ran from the great hall before Harry or Ron could even get a word of question out of their mouths. They simply stared at her retreating back quizzically and shrugged at each other. Hermione was a puzzle sometimes.

Hermione ran. Her feet pounded against the stone floor, her robes flew behind her, much like a cape. Not once did she register the thought that she was breaking a rule, nor did she care. Luckily, everyone was either still eating breakfast or in their common room as she didn't encounter anyone on her way to Myrtles bathroom.

She nearly kicked down the door, locking it behind her. For the first time ever, her mark was aching. It may not have been a good sign, but it was still the first time ever that it had done anything. She couldn't help but be excited, though we excitement was doused when the ache seemed to triple in strength.

Hermione gripped the side of the sink to steady herself. She felt as if she was on fire from the inside, a flame she couldn't extinguish. One could have mistaken all of these symptoms as a heart attack, but she knew better. She tried to steady her breathing to try and make her mind focus on something else other than the pain, but the task seemed impossible. She could feel beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead.

Just as she decided that she should go to madam Pomfrey, the pain subsided. It left so quickly, that Hermione blinked, confused.

She unbuttoned her top and pulled it down we shoulder. To her surprise, the mark seemed perfectly normal. She was expecting at least some sort of change, but apparently the change wasn't physical, and could only be felt.

She sighed, this meant she was obviously not making any progress with her search.

She turned and engaged in some polite conversation with Myrtle as per agreement. When the length of it seemed passable, she left. Her earlier enthusiasm was completely gone, and now she just felt drained. It was like she had finally crashed down from riding the high you get from caffeine. She didn't even care that 1) she'd broken a school rule, or 2) was late to her first class, potions, with Snape.

She dragged her feet on the trip to Potions, rueing the day as she went, though no too much, for it was still disrespectful to arrive too late to a class.

When she reached the door, she hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment. It wasn't as if she would skive class just because she had her first "mark attack", she'd decided to call them.

She cursed the door hinges as they made a loud creak, announcing to everyone her presence. When she looked up, she found that all eyes were on her, and she blushed.

Snape simply glanced at her and said, "You're late miss. Granger. 20 points from Gryffindor."

She but her lip to stop herself from making a retort, and made her way to the back of the class and sat down at a table where Ron and Harry were. Harry sent her a worried look, probably wondering why she was late, but she simply waved him off and told him she'd forgotten something for her next class. She pretended she was unaware of Harrys inquisitive stare beside her. He must have given up or deemed this a good enough explanation, as he turned his attention back to Snape.

"Now as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, is that this year, most of the work completed in class, will be done in pairs." The door opened, yet again interrupting his speech, and in walked a calm looking Malfoy. There was no proof of what had happened prior the day before, he looked as immaculate and smug as ever. Though on closer examination, his skin had a greyish tinge to it, not exactly a sign of great health. Snape _coincidentally_ seemed to miss Malfoy's late arrival and continued on talking, "Dumbledore himself has picked out these pairs. He chose the pairs based on skill level as to avoid one partner carrying the other and doing most of the work. You will have no say as to who your partner will be. Once everyone has been called out, I want all of you to move to sit with your partners. I do not care who else is at your table, as long as you are with your partner. "

"The pairs are:

"Ron Weasley and Theodorre Nott," Snape was interrupted by some jeers from the Slytherin side of the classroom, but they all stopped when he sent them a hard glare. "Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil,"

They sent each other polite smiles and Patil moved to Dean's table.

Snape called out the rest of the pairs, to which some rude comments were made.

Hermione sat patiently, waiting for her name to be called out, but it wasn't. She looked around the room and saw that there were only four people left that hasn't been called out: herself, Harry, Zabini and Malfoy.

She silently pleaded for her and Harry to be partnered together. It would make the year so much easier.

"Harry Potter," _Please_ "and," _please please please, _"Hermione Granger." She sighed in relief and smiled at Harry. Maybe this year her luck would turn-

"Wait, I've read the wrong line. Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini." The was yet again, more jeers.

Hermione felt herself deflate. If Harry was with Zabini, then that meant that-

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy."

Almost immediately after, protests were heard from the Slytherins. Pansy seemed particularly unhappy, her face resembling of one that was sucking on a lemon.

"Quiet! As I said before these pairs are predetermined will not change depending on whether or not you like who you're with." He said this last line, not looking partially pleased, wearing a scowl.

Hermione looked over to Malfoy, it didn't seem like he was moving, so she sighed and packed up her stuff and made her way towards him. She pointedly ignored the glares she got.

She sat down on the side next to him so she wouldn't have to constantly reach over to the cauldron. His equipment was set out in the precise order that they were needed, while the utensils were set apart. All in all it was neat, and not unlike the way that she prepared for brewing potions; secretly, she approved. Ron's part of the table was always a pig sty, though there were never a whole lot of ingredients, he always managed to strew everything about, something Hermione found extremely annoying. She had more than once, nearly spoiled a potion by putting in the wrong ingredient because he had accidentally placed it in her ingredient pile.

For some strange reason, this fastidious habit that they shared made her feel slightly less bitter about the fact that Malfoy was going to be her potions partner for the majority of the year. At least she had been paired with someone near her intellectual ability, and most importantly, wasn't a slob.

She looked up at him to see if he'd noticed her assessing his work station, but he was paying her no mind. His eyes were trained at the front, his expression blank. He was completely ignoring her presence. It wasn't as if she minded, she was perfectly happy to work in silence and ignore him as well.

She opened her textbook to the right page and read through the instructions.

_Juice two Shrivelfigs and add their ruby blood to you cauldron._

_Stir slowly._

_Gently heat your potion._

Malfoy was already juicing them so she read the next line and moved on to the next step.

_Chop four daisy roots more finely and add to cauldron._

She carefully went about chopping up the daisy roots. After she was done, she chopped them again, until she was satisfied with the result. Then she added them to the potion.

_Add five hairy caterpillars._

She dropped them into the cauldron, though she couldn't help but look away slightly as she did.

_Add well-shaken wormwood._

_Stir vigourously._

She started shaking the wormwood. Her arms started to get tired from the effort, but she kept shaking for good measure. When she looked up again, she saw that Malfoy was already stirring, he must have already added it while she wasn't looking. She put down the wormwood, slightly peeved that her efforts had gone to waste.

_Juice four leeches and add._

She juiced them and threw them in the cauldron.

_Stir slowly and with caution._

_Shake rat spleen and add to cauldron._

She started to slowly stir the potion, careful not to spill any. He looked over at the others around the room and was pleased to see that they were far a head of everyone else in the class. Satisfied, she looked over at Malfoy. He was holding juiced leaches, which was strange considering that they'd already added them. As she opened her mouth to ask him what he was up to, he added it to the potion.

"Malfoy!" She all but screeched. She watched as their potion turned a brilliant orange colour.

He looked up at her alarmed at her outburst and confused, but only for a moment. The failed potion seemed to explode, the gooey substance landed everywhere in the classroom, effectively ruining everyone else's potions as some landed it their cauldrons.

The classroom turned havoc. Pansy, the drama queen she was, started screaming, while others were bad mouthing about how their potions were ruined and they would have to start again.

Hermione turned to Malfoy and started telling him off for the mess that they were in.

"SILENCE!" Snape shouted. The class immediately shut up, not used to the potions master raising his voice. "Scourgify." Every last bit of the mess vanished, along with the potions of everyone else in the room.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger," His attention now directed to the cause of the mess. The two appeared to have shrunken slightly, being the only ones to have gotten some of the potion in their mouths from the fact that they had been shouting accusations at each other when their potion exploded.

"Head to the hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey can un-shrink you both, as you were both smart enough to consume a half finished tainted potion." His voice was eerily calm, not a good sign. He turned around and Hermione wondered if he was going to let them off without punishment, when he spun back around on his heel, "Oh, and one months detention for both of you startingtonight. Be at my office at five fifteen on the dot, no later."

**Coming up: A chapter written from Draco's perspective!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to everyone who has favourited/followed/reviewed! I love you all! Again, I don't take harshly to constructive criticism; I welcome it! So feel free to comment if you see an error that I've missed. **

**To clear up confusion, this chapter is written from Draco waking up in the hospital onwards. **

**Chapter 4: Draco**

Draco's head was in the blissfully fuzzy haze that came with waking up from a undisturbed sleep. No thoughts were running through his mind, just the simple comfort of a warm bed and a good rest. Reality, as usual, seemed to crash into him again, and it was then that he noticed that he was lying on the scratchy white sheets of the hospital wing. He gasped, and immediately regretted it. His ribs must have taken quite a beating as they seemed to have concave on him, constricting his breathing. His whole body was in agony all because of a juvenile game.

Quidditch.

Draco, for the life of him, could not remember why he ever liked Quidditch. Sitting for hours on top of a broom, searching for a snitch that's almost impossible to catch. That's how long it felt like he'd been up there, though it had probably only been about an hour at most. He'd long given up searching for the snitch, choosing instead to simply let his mind go off on a course on its own. This was a mistake, as it led his thoughts down other paths, something that he'd been doing a lot of lately.

There was so much to do, in so little time. He knew the consequences had he fail, and he knew the odd were stacked against him.

Those thoughts had led to him getting a bludger in the stomach and falling and landing on an unbelievably hard ground. At the time it hasn't hurt that much, as he didn't really have time feel anything before he blacked out. Now was a completely different story, he could do nothing but lie there and feel pain with every movement. It was stupid of him to not have been paying attention, it had been a stupid mistake, and this was his consequence.

At some point of lying there in a half daze, madam Pomfrey had come in to check on him and ask him some questions as to how he was feeling. He wasn't conscious enough to start describing his present state, so he just replied with a simple 'bad.'

She gave him some sort of potion that made his eyelids feel ridiculously heavy. He tried to fight off the impending tiredness, but he must have dozed as he woke again some time later feeling stiff. His limbs had cramped up from a long period of misuse.

In the background, he could hear voices, though they were too far away to make out what they were saying. He strained his ears to hear and caught bits of the conversation.

"A day! What about my cla-" This voice sounded shrill yet comforting to him, he had no idea why. It was obviously from a female.

Madam Pomfrey's voice was distinguishable, though he couldn't quite figure out what she was saying as she was speaking in a much calmer tone.

Whatever Madam Pomfrey said must have relaxed the berate female she was talking to as the next time she spoke, her voice was once again indistinguishable. This annoyed him as ease dropping on a conversation gave him something else to do, instead of feeling sorry for himself.

He couldn't see behind the curtain, so he jumped in shock when he heard the hospital wing doors slam open.

Two hysteric voices started talking over the other. He had no idea what was going on; all he managed to catch was "shrinking potion" and "tripped", but that pretty much summed up the brunt of it.

He basically blacked out again after that. This time, he awoke to footsteps.

They were getting closer. He hoped it wasn't some sort of crazed assassin that'd come to attack him while his guard was down. They had another thing coming if they thought that.

He reached for his wand and tucked his hand under the blanket with it, ready to defend himself. He pretended to still be asleep, but opened his right eye slightly so he could see.

The last thing he would have ever expected was a familiar wild bush of hair to pop inside the curtain. Had Granger not turned around and looked behind her, she would have saw Draco's eyebrows raise ever so slightly.

He immediately schooled his expression and feigned being asleep.

She looked hesitant, and just as he thought she was going to leave, she stepped inside and pulled the curtain behind her.

What was she doing here? Did she come to mock him and spread around school how pathetic he was? The Slytherin prince, reduced to an immobile lump on a bed, completely unable to defend himself if it weren't for his wand.

He felt her eyes on him, and was thankful for the fact that he had long eye lashes to cover up the fact that his eyes were slightly open. He tried his hardest to not shift under her prying eyes. When he felt her gaze leave his face he relaxed. He opened his eyes slightly wider and saw that she was studying his stomach. She was frowning.

His mouth seemed to move on its own accord, "Checking me out Granger?" He said, amusement clear in his voice. She had clearly not thought he'd be conscious as her eyes widened comically, her mouth hanging slightly agape. Draco smirked.

He saw her compose herself, the flush that had earlier graced her cheeks completely gone, "Of course not, but as a fellow Head, it's my duty to check to see your health and if it will possibly affect our schedule."

He felt something in him snap. Here he was, lying half dead in the hospital wing, and not one person had come in to wish him well. Slytherins weren't overly compassionate people, but he had expected at least _something_. His parents were absent, though he knew that they'd probably have a lot going on at the moment, things that were probably a lot more important than him getting injured in a game of quidditch. Still, at that moment, Draco could not help but feel utterly and completely alone. Having Granger to be the only one to visit him, and also be forced to, wasn't exactly gratifying. Draco felt his demeanour harden.

"How _considerate_ of you." He continued smirking at her, though it was hollow, like so many others had been.

"So, uh, how are you?" She seemed completely casual.

"I'm fine." He replied automatically, already used to it being his response to everything lately.

"Right." She gave him a look that said 'do you think I'm stupid.' "Now how are you really?" Draco did not fail to notice her softer change in tone.

What did she expect him to say? It wasn't as if he was going to start sprouting off about everything that was going wrong in his life. He didn't trust anyone with that kind of information, let alone the right hand man of saint potter himself.

"As I said Granger, I'm perfectly fine. My condition won't disrupt the _oh_ so important schedule."

She sighed at him and started looking around the 'room', which he thought looked awfully a lot like stalling. He stared straight at her, hoping it'd make her uncomfortable, wishing she would hurry up and leave. He didn't want to become more of a burden to visit than he already was.

She seemed to read his mind, and to his relief, turned to leave.

She pulled back the curtain and stepped out. Draco sighed and slumped on his bed again, not expecting her to turn, look over her shoulder, and say, "Get well soon Malfoy,"

Draco froze. Had she just said what he thought she said?

A bizarre happiness settled in his stomach, which made him disgusted and angry with himself, mostly though, he felt confused. Then he felt nothing.

He slipped into darkness again, this time no nightmares greeted him, only more nothingness.

He stood the classroom, inhaling and exhaling deeply, focusing on calming his breaths. It didn't help much as with every inhale, his ribs protested.

He had to keep his acting up, word had probably already spread that he had quit quidditch, and he had to convince them all that it was because he was still as snobbish and afraid of pain as he had been before everything had happened. He really had quit because he needed time, he needed as much as he could get. He was running out of it, and the due date was looming over his head.

He felt himself mentally build up his walls, layer by layer, until his mask was back at full force. Satisfied, he walked in.

"- Dumbledore himself has picked out these pairs. He chose the pairs based on skill level as to avoid one partner carrying the other and doing most of the work. You will have no say as to who your partner will be. Once everyone has been called out, I want all of you to move to sit with your partners. I do not care who else is at your table, as long as you are with your partner. "

Pairs? They were going to have to work in pairs the whole year?

He strode to the back of the class, smirking at the people who glared at him.

"The pairs are:

"Ron Weasley and Theodorre Nott," Theodorre, Crabbe and Goyle started hissing their complaints but shut up when Snape have them a cold look. "Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil," the two Gryffindors smiled at each other.

Draco started tuning out after the third pair was called. He suddenly found the pattern of the bench top much more exciting than Dumbledore's evil sense of humour for his choice of pairs.

The idea of a whole year of potions shared with a buddy? Ridiculous. They were perfectly competent students- well, most of them were. He did not want to be buddy anything this year, getting to know someone as an actual person rather than someone forgettable made it so much more easy to match a face with a name. Which made it harder for him to know that fact that they might be ki-

"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy." This immediately brought him out of his daze. He was going to spend the rest of potions with _her_?! The epitome of smart ass goody goods that ever existed. He could almost see them throwing hexes at each other all ready.

He watched from the corner of his eye as she moved towards him. He clenched his jaw, but otherwise have no other indication that he acknowledged her presence. Maybe she would take the message and just leave.

Nope; not happening.

His eyes skimmed the page of the book they were working from, and he rolled his eyes when he saw the potion that they were going to brew, shrinking potion. It was a potion for beginners, and was quite an easy one at that, it was even the same potion that the second or third years had brewed the day before. This was either because of Snape's unimaginative thinking, or the result of some clever thinking on the behalf of his teacher. Why not test the waters of the pairs with a potion that was fairly simple?

He felt bored of the potion already.

_Juice two Shrivelfigs and add their ruby blood to you cauldron._

_Stir slowly._

_Gently heat your potion._

_Chop four daisy roots more finely and add to cauldron._

His body seemed to be on autopilot as he moved. He grabbed two Shrivelfigs and started to juice them. He willed his limbs to move faster, but it felt was if they were surrounded by thick mud. To his greatest displeasure, his eyelids started to droop. He'd been having trouble sleeping lately, nightmares haunted him every time he closed his eyes, and it seemed it was finally catching up to him. The drug induced sleep in the hospital had only done to help heal him, not refresh him.

When he saw the juice from the Shrivelfigs, his walls collapsed. Seeing it, reminded him too closely of blood. So many images that he'd buried at the back of his mind resurfaced. So many things that he wished he had not witnessed.

Of course, nobody knew what was going on inside his head, and to them, it looked like a boy staring wide eyes at his own hands. Draco knew this, and he knew he was not supposed draw attention to himself this year, so he forced himself to continue on.

It all happened so fast to Draco's eyes, he barely registered what was going on until he heard her shout.

"Malfoy!"

He dropped what he was doing and stared wide eyed at her.

What did she want now!

He didn't even have time to send her a nasty glare when his question got answered. Hot orange goo splattered everywhere.

"What did you _do_!" He practically growled at her.

"Me?! That was your fault! _You _weren't watching what you were doing!"

"If you were watching what you were doing, then _I_ wouldn't have to!"

"You should always-

"SILENCE!"

He pressed his lips together, but continued to glare at her.

"Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger, head to the hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey can un-shrink you both, as you were both smart enough to consume a half finished tainted potion." He walked away from them, then spun back around on his heel, "Oh, and one months detention for both of you starting tonight. Be at my office at five fifteen on the dot, no later."

He heard her enter the common room. The portrait door opened with a familiar creek.

His head was lying on the crook of his arm, as he was 'resting his eyes' and taking a break from studying.

He focused on making his breaths even, to trick her into thinking he was asleep again, to avoid having to acknowledge her presence.

She must have saw through his act this time, and for the second time that day, she rocked him to his core with a four simple words,

"I'm sorry about potions."

That night he dreamed he entered a maze, but took a wrong turn and got lost.

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	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back! Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 5: Destined for Ron?**

She was late for detention. She had gotten detention for being late to class, only to be late for the detention.

She had been held back in the Gryffindor common room with Harry. He had cornered her.

"I knew you didn't forget a book for class, so why'd you run off like that?"

"What do you mean?" She bit her lip unconsciously.

"Hermione, I know you pack all of your books the night before, you've done it since first year."

"Harry, you really don't want to know. Besides, I'm in a hurry, I have detention soon."

"'Mione, I do. Trust me. Snape can wait."

"Okay then, but I warned you..." She scuffed her feet on the floor to stall as she frantically tried to come up with something. As if a light bulb went off in her head, the perfect excuse came to her, "It was girl stuff."

"Girl stuff?"

"You know, it happens every month, it makes us moody, etcetera etcetera. Girl stuff."

"Every month? What- oh." His went as red as a beetroot.

"Girl stuff."

"Right. Um okay, good talk. Iii guess I'll see you later." He gave her a weak wave which she returned, then she quickly strode to the portrait door. She yanked it open and ran out, running straight into a wall.

"Oof." She stumbled and fell back onto her butt with a thud.

She didn't realise her eyes were shut until she opened them again and saw the 'walls' face.

"Sorry! Are you alright Hermione?"

"I'm- fine Neville. Just a bit winded."

"Here let me help you up." He offered her his hand and she took it, using it to pull herself back up.

She stood and brushed the dust off her robes "Thanks."

She made her way briskly to Snape's office, though she was careful to keep her pace steady as their were people about.

She made her way to the dungeons, shivering slightly as she descended some stairs; she hated the dungeons. Out of all of the places at Hogwarts, the dungeons were the only place that never failed to unnerve her. She couldn't understand why people from Slytherin liked it here so much, even their sleeping quarters were situated here. Hermione couldn't imagine falling asleep somewhere like this.

She dismissed her thoughts and kept walking.

She rounded the corner and saw the familiar door. She cautiously walked up to it, half expecting traps to spring up, and rapped her knuckles against the wood.

Snape opened the door and stepped back, she took a step forward.

The first thing she noticed was that it was dark. The room was dimly lit and it added to the already gloomy atmosphere. The walls were lined with jars filled with merlin knows what. The room was exactly the same as when she had snuck in and stolen stole bicorn horn and boomslang skin for polyjuice potion in second year, except now, there seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of jars.

"I want you to clean every dirty surface of this office until its sparkling clean, which includes the soot in the fireplace." That was fairly easy, all she had to do was- "Without the use of a wand."

She forced her mouth to stay shut and she handed over her wand to his outstretched hand. "You will get this back after you are done." He left the room with a cold smirk on his face. When he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder and said, "Though if you so much as touch my ingredients, I will see to it that you are expelled so fast that you won't know what's happening until you are being escorted from this school." He started off saying his threat fast and fluently and by the end of it he was speaking scathingly slowly, over pronouncing every syllable.

She simply nodded, not knowing if she just dismiss him or actually be threatened. His demeanour brought her back her first years when she was deathly frightened of him. He was the only teacher that would harshly mark if she even stepped inch out of line.

He turned and left with a swish of his robes.

She gritted her teeth and started to wipe a cupboard down with one of the old rags that he had left her.

The door opened when she was halfway through her second cupboard. She looked up from her cleaning and her eyes locked with his. To her surprise, Malfoy looked away first. He then proceeded to make his way to the cauldrons that needed cleaning, which all happened to be on the other side if the room.

She wasn't sure if he preferred cleaning cauldrons, or if he was avoiding her. While sitting in the hospital wing yet again, she had time to think through what had gone so wrong during potions. Carefully, she went through today's events, trying to pick out faults. The first thing that had came to mind, shamefully, was that it was Malfoy's fault. He had been the one who wasn't watching what he was doing and ended up adding extra juiced leaches. Admittedly though, she hasn't been paying much attention to what she was doing either. She has fallen into her normal rhythm which pretty much blocked out everything surrounding her. This doubling with the fact that they weren't communicating at all, meant that they had set themselves for disaster from the beginning. She'd let her stubborn pride get in the way, he had been snubbing her, so she had snubbed him back.

She didn't know what she had expected him to do, but she couldn't say this reaction was expected.

She turned back to her cupboard and went back to her cleaning.

The air was so thick with tension that you could practically see it, a dark, unsettling fog. It was only fuelled by the fact that neither would admit they were in the wrong. The silence was deafening, the only noise that could be heard between the two was the scrubbing from a brush and the wringing out of a rag.

The awkwardness soon fell away from Hermione as she started getting into cleaning. The repetitive series of movement involves seemed to work away at her tension. Something about being in that room, cleaning, seemed to relax her. She felt her knots slowly untie themselves, and she held back the contempt sigh that threatened to leave her lips.

She finished off her cupboard and stood back to admire her work. Before she had started, it was grimy and covered in dust, now it look as good as new. She smiled a small smile, a little ridiculous bout of pride settling in her gut. Her smile turned into a frown when she heard how quiet it had gotten. She couldn't hear anything coming from the other side of the room. She snuck a peak from the corner of her eye and saw his rigid figure staring blanking at the space in front of him.

"Malfoy? Malfoy." No response. "Have you fallen asleep with your eyes open?" She laughed apprehensively, her weak attempt at joke falling on deaf ears. She tried it a little but louder, "Malfoy." Silence. "Malfoy!" It was as if he couldn't even hear her.

With a humph, she walked directly in front of him and tried again, this time waving her hand in his face, "Malfoy."

Finally, he reacted. He blinked twice, as if he had just realised she was there. Hermione could tell immediately that she had caught him off guard. It was actually quite intriguing to watch his reaction. First, he looked confused, most likely from just having woken up from a daydream, then surprised at his surroundings, then surprised again, this time he was looking directly at her. Something in his brain must have clinked in place, his expression hardened, yet took on a look of boredom, one that she knew was fake.

"What do you want." His voice was cold.

"I've been calling your name for at least a good minute and you haven't been replying at all."

"So what?"

"Soo, don't you think that it's a bit weird for you to zone out like that?"

"No." He was trying to be nonchalant, but she could see how stiff his posture was.

"Okay fine, you don't have to tell me."

She walked back to her half of the office and picked up her rag again.

They worked in steady silence for the rest of their time there. The task of cleaning the office took a whole two and a half hours to complete. She knew that Snape could have simply cleaned his office with a flick of his wrist with his wand, but of course, he always had to make things difficult.

When Snape gave them back their wands, Hermione made a beeline for the library. She wasn't going to let the rest of her night go to waste.

"Prohibitum." The knight opened the door for her and it swung open with a loud creek.

The first thing she noticed when she walked in was a head of blonde hair lying against the table. She wasn't going to fall for this act again though, she knew he was awake.

"I'm sorry about potions."

She left quickly and headed towards her room so she wouldn't have to see his reaction.

When she shut the door behind her, she got changed and ready for bed, today had really taken it out of her. Too much happened at once. She slipped under the covers, welcoming the warmth that it brought. As she closed her eyes and started to drift off, she suddenly felt very... awake. Her whole body felt alert and energised, almost as if someone had gone and dumped a bucket of ice on her. She sat up, alarmed, and for a second she expected to see someone standing next to her holding an empty bucket, but she didn't. That was when she noticed that this 'energy' was coming from just above her heart. Her breathing quickened, this was nothing like the attack she had earlier on, that had drained her and hurt her, this feeling was quite the opposite.

Wide eyed curious, she carefully pulled down the side of her night gown. At first, she did not see anything different, when she looked closer, she saw something that made her heart leap. There, in the midst of fern leaves, was a tiny new shoot that seemed to be growing out from underneath them. A wide goofy grin broke out onto Hermione's face. Something had happened that day that has moved along her relationship with her mystery man.

Her smile faltered when she realised that this was the first (positive) thing to happen to her mark, and she had no idea what had caused it.

She couldn't remember having any encounters with males that could have potentially made their feelings for her change.

Unless her being late for breakfast and a class, then blowing a potion sparked a new interest in her mate that day...

She hasn't even been looking her best today, her hair had flailed all over the place.

Maybe she'd overlooked something, though what had she overlooked? Maybe she had it just too unexpected for her too...

Ron. He had visited her in the hospital wing.

Was Ron her destined mate?

She had been in an awful mood before he came in. Her mind flashed back to earlier on in the day, carefully picking apart her memory.

Ron came up from behind her and slung his arm around shoulder. "Hey 'mione, feeling better?"

She grumbled something incoherent.

"Cheer up Hermione, if this can't be fixed, you'll be in with a chance with Professor Flitwik."

She couldn't help it, she'd smiled.

"Is that a smile I see?" He gave her a lopsided grin. This was all it took for her to cave, and she smiled back at him.

"Shut up." She tried to glare at him but failed miserably since she was still smiling.

Madam Pomfrey had then come in to shoo him out, though by that time, her mood had already improved.

She sat there, in a sort of daze. She had never even considered the possibility that Ron was her mate. Was it possible that after all this time, she had been looking for someone that was right under her nose?

She decided to weigh her pros and cons in her head. Pro: he was funny, which meant that he knew how to cheer her up, con: he would sometimes not take things was seriously as she would like. Pro: he was tall, a trait she had always secretly wanted her future husband to have, con: his sudden growth spurt made him sort of gangly. Pro: they were comfortable around each other, con: he was just a bit too comfortable around her and sometimes seemed forget she was even a girl. Pro: dating him would mean that they would become closer... con: if they broke up, their friendship might be in jeopardy.

She grunted her frustration into her pillow.

What was she meant to do?

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	6. Chapter 6

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**Chapter 6: Giddy**

Hermione woke up feeling dreadful. She had gotten no sleep due to her new revelation yesterday. To top it all off, she had been hallucinating nightmares. She'd woken up in the dead of night to mangled cries. They weren't feminine noises either. They were low guttural sounds that unnerved her deeply. She was nearly one hundred percent sure she had heard them, and that she had not dreamt it, but unless Crooshanks had injured himself and suddenly started howling in pain, then she must have imagined it. The only other person even close to her, was Malfoy, though she would have pinned it on Crookshanks before she so much as considered him. After that, she couldn't get back to sleep, when the hallucinating stopped, she still couldn't sleep. She finally drifted off when the first days of light shone through her window.

So when morning came, Hermione woke up with practically no sleep and no plan as to how she would see if Ron was really her mate.

Sitting up, she could already tell that her hair was a mess. The humid weather lately hadn't helped her much in the frizz department. She was pretty sure that if she was to go out as she looked now, people were more than likely to think a lion had escaped from the zoo and was currently strutting around in Hogwarts uniform. Ron was probably going to go running the other way when he saw her.

She wasn't going to let this deter her. She was Hermione Granger, as stubborn and as determined they came, and she wasn't going to give up without a fight.

Grabbing her clothes, she headed straight do the bathroom. To her surprise, she found that it was unoccupied. Having to share a bathroom with someone that was very conscious of how they looked meant having to constantly stand outside the bathroom door waiting for Malfoy to finish. For it to be free was quite uncommon, though she wasn't complaining.

She strode to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the mirror. As expected, her hair was an absolute mess. Her eyes looked tired and worn, last nights restlessness evident in her face.

Quickly the stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. A sigh escaped her lips as the water hit her. She let the powerful stream of water pound away at her back, working away at her tense muscles. Closing her eyes, she let the warm water soothe all of her aches and imagined it washing away all of her doubts and worries. She reached for her shampoo that made her hair smell like honey suckle, and began to wash.

When she finally stepped out of the shower, Hermione felt as if she had a new skin. She felt rejuvenised and alert. She dried herself and got dressed, then prepared herself for the task at hand; her hair.

She opened the cupboard and reached for the tube of Sleekeazy. She hasn't touched this stuff since fourth year, when she'd used it for the yule ball, but now was a good as a time as ever for it. She squeezed a generous amount of the gel onto the palm of her hand, before she rubbed her hands together. She exhaled, and ran them through her still damp hair. She then dried her hair with a simple spell and looked at her work.

Her face broke out into a grin when she saw that her hair was no longer a birds nest. It now fell into neat waves that framed her face. She applied a teeny tiny bit of lip gloss, then swiftly wiped it off after deciding it was too much. She opted to go natural, and simply applied moisturiser all over her body until her skin was baby smooth. She didn't need any foundation since her skin was already practically blemish free, and she thanked her lucky stars for her good genes.

When she looked in the mirror again, she was pretty happy with her accomplishment. She looked, she dare say, pretty. But only passable, Hermione had always knew she was plain. Her hair had always been a contributing factor, but now, it seemed to bring out her features more.

Satisfied, she turned on her heel opened the door and almost walked head first into Malfoy. He looked as startled as she felt, obviously not expecting her to suddenly burst through the door.

This close, she could see eyes weren't actually blue like she thought they were, they were grey.

He had obviously just woken up. His hair, not severely slicked back, was disheveled in such a way that made her want to run her hands though it and-

What was she thinking?! She did not want to do anything of the sort! Though she had, once again, been staring at him.

He didn't seem to have noticed this time though, Malfoy was now blatantly staring at her. Did she really look that different?

She looked him directly in the eyes again, and this seemed to snap him out of it.

He swallowed, before looking away. He stepped around her and closed the door.

Determined and resolute, she marched straight through the Great Hall doors. Her gaze fell directly on the red head who was shovelling food into his mouth while laughing at the same time. She eyed the empty spot next to Harry, her usual seat. Like a receding tide, she felt her confidence slowly drain away, but she kept her stride strong.

She longed for the seat saved by Harry, but knew that if she was going to accomplish anything, she was going to have to dive straight into the deep end.

She hoped that her nerves wouldn't give her away, and said in the most casual voice she could muster, "Good morning." She realised that her posture was extremely stiff, so she forced herself to slouch.

It felt like minutes before they both finally replied, "Morning Hermione."

She felt herself relax with relief; the first stage was complete. She started piling food onto her plate, slowly smiling a secret smile at how silly she'd been reacting over a silly seat.

The smile however, turned into a frown. Hermione's body went tense; someone was watching her. She looked up from her plate and scanned the rows of of tables. It seemed no one was paying any attention to her, they were all chatting away merrily, except for the Slytherins, they seemed to be muttering in subdued voices. She started absently cutting her scrambled eggs into tiny bite size pieces to distract herself, thinking the feeling would go away by itself. One plate of mutilated eggs later, she still couldn't quite shake off the feeling of being watched. Huffing in frustration, she turned back to her friends, she wasn't going to let her paranoia stop her from achieving her goal.

She turned on the bench until she was facing him. "Sooo Ron. Have- have you been feeling different lately?" He paused his eating for a moment, his attention focused on her. His hair was still as bright as ever, unlike Ginny's, who's hair had grown out and turned into a darker, rich tone of red. He had grown even taller over the summer, his limbs seeming to big for his body. Gangly was a way to describe him, some might find this trait endearing. Hermione couldn't decide if this included herself, although sometimes she found herself comparing him to a new born baby giraffe.

"Giffrent?" He swallowed his sausage and looked at her though half of his face was still facing his plate so he could continue eating. "Different how?"

"Just- . Okay, wrong word, not different, more like, changed? Maybe? Or maybe had a... had a revelation of some sort? I mean not a big one but maybe it was sparked by- not sparked! No sparks have to have been included! I mean, maybe their may have been sparks but I'm not saying their had to have been. I mean-" she looked up at Ron and saw his extremely perplexed expression.

"Are you feeling alright Hermione? Do you need to go to madam Pomfrey?"

"What? Oh yes I'm fine. I've just been meaning to ask you..." She readjusted her skirt, though there was nothing wrong with it. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with this coming weekend?"

His eyes widened slightly and he swallowed the food in his mouth. "Hogs- Hogsmeade? With you?" A flush came across his cheeks, Hermione looked at him expectantly. "S- sure." He cleared his throat. "Sure."

"Okay then, good." She grinned at him. He smiled back at her, his cheeks still flushed pink.

"Oh, I've got to go. I need to ask Miss McGonagall about the essay she gave us."

Harry broke away from his conversation with Dean and gave her a amused look, "You mean the one that's due a month from now?"

Hermione didn't reply, she didn't need too, instead she gave him a sheepish grin and stood.

Waving to them she left. She had to ask Miss. McGonagall about the essay. Last night, she had attempted to write it, only to realise that the professor has forgotten to specify which spell she wanted them to write about. They had learnt the about two spells that week and she didn't know which one she should write about. Maybe she wanted the one-

"I saw you drooling on Weasley in there. You were practically sitting on his lap."

She tensed immediately. That lazy drawl was easily distinguishable.

She whirled around and faced him, giving him her best glare.

"Shut up Malfoy, and for your information, I was not sitting in his lap Malfoy."

"So you admit that you were drooling all over him?"

"I-" Hermione wanted to slap the smug smirk right off his face. Instead of replying, she just let out an incoherent growl. Had she looked like some sort of love sick puppy? "Leave me alone Malfoy! Why do you care anyway?!"

His face seemed to completely shut down and turned expressionless. A pause. "I don't." His eyebrows draw together, as if he was confused with his own actions.

"Then go away!" She glared at him and stomped away.

She was angry of course, but she couldnt help but feel humiliated. Had she been that forward with Ron? Had he seemed desperate? She was only at seven when she heard the light click clack footsteps following her. All at once, she felt her anger resurface.

"I told you to leave me alone Malfoy!" She whirled around and faced him again.

He regarded her with a serenely. "I would, but I had come to inform you that one of the Slytherin prefects cannot do his Wednesday nightly rounds. He asked me to inform you about it."

She blinked at him. All at once she felt her anger slip, making her feel somewhat deflated, despite the fact that it was only the start of the day. She willed herself not to flush from having reacted so brashly and snapped at him for no reason. "Oh, um, ok. I actually know of a Gryffindor prefect that would be happy to fill in for him, as long as you wouldn't mind a Gryffindor hanging around the dungeons."

"I don't see why that would disrupt anything that goes down in the dungeons. Just be sure to warn that Gryffindor to always bring their wand with them."

"Okay then, I will."

She felt extremely giddy. She hardly ever felt giddy. It was an emotion that she reserved only for getting perfect scores for exams and school work. She couldn't recall a time when she felt quite like this because she had asked a boy to Hogsmeade with her. Maybe Ron really was her destined one, if he made her feel like this just from talking to him. The pieces of her life were finally starting to fit together again, after so many years of mindless searching, she could get the whole mark thing under control.


	7. Chapter 7

**I know my updates have been a bit slow lately, and this is because lately I've been feeling a bit uninspired. Put some spirit into these fingers of mine, you know what to do! **

**REVIEW!**

**Ps. Excuse me if my take on Hagrid is a bit off, I've been dreading writing his accent. **

**Chapter 7: Hogsmeade**

As cliche as it seemed, the week, Hermione could not help it as the week flew by like a blur. Before she knew it, Saturday came, and they were all headed off to Hogsmeade. Hermione was standing in front of her floor length mirror in her room.

She was currently looking at what must have been her tenth outfit she had tried. The clothes she had discarded were now forming a small mountain on her bed.

She'd woken up early, showered and gotten her hair and face ready, but her indecisiveness had slowed down her progress. She could either go casual, and maybe wear some jeans and a shirt, or she could go for something more formal. At the moment she was dressed in a pair of well worn jeans and one of her favourite t-shirts. She looked in the mirror and growled in frustration, she was too underdressed. She didn't want Ron to think this was just another day out with friends.

In the end, she decided on something that suited the wonderful weather they'd been having; a sundress that ended just below mid-thigh. It was modest and not slutty, though it showed slightly more skin than she'd hoped. What made up for it was how utterly comfortable it was. The material was so light and flowy that it felt like silk on her skin. She opted for some matching ankle boots with a hidden heel that Ginny had given to her as a gift, hoping that they would make up for some of the height difference between her and Ron.

She messed around with her hair for a while, before she gave up and just left it down.

She walked out of her room, just as the bathroom door opened and Malfoy stepped out. He looked as if he hasn't slept, Hermione didn't doubt that he hadn't been. No matter how much she despised him, you'd have to have been blind to see that something was off about him. Though she would never tell a soul, she had found herself watching him occasionally, and she knew that he was lonely. He obviously tried to hide it, but something was going on behind the scenes that he apparently couldn't tell even his Slytherin friends. At one point, Hermione had even tried guessing what was making him so distressed, and had come up empty handed.

Whatever it was, it seemed to have changed his character quite dramatically, and at the same time none at all. In most ways, he was exactly the same, and it has taken her quite a long time to realise what was different about him. No matter how well staged his mask was, he could not cover up the fact that everything about him seemed hollow. His cruel remarks nowadays were almost halfhearted, as if he were just saying them for the sake of it, and not meaning it. From her hatred of him, grew an emotion that she had never once considered associating with Malfoy, a tenderness, or a soft spot. Tiny as it was, it still existed.

That's why it wasn't uncommon for her to say what she said next. "Morning Malfoy."

He seemed to still be thinking of something, or something was distracting him, as he unexpectedly replied. "Morning." He may not have realised what he was saying, but it was the first time he had actually said something back to Hermione when she greeted him in the morning. He usually just ignored her, or glared at her before continuing in his way.

He walked to the portrait door and opened it before stepping through and shutting it behind him. He was probably going to Hogsmeade as well.

She was puzzled by his behaviour; he hasn't even said the customary half hearted rude remark. She shook it off, literally shaking her shoulders, before grabbing her bag and heading out as well.

Malfoy wasn't that far ahead of her, his stride slow. Hermione tried to keep her pace slow as well, but soon found herself caught up to him. She was only a few paces behind him, and was now stuck with two choices, the awkward, super slow pace that meant she stayed behind him, or the speed walk to get past him. She tried the super slow walk for a bit, but found her strides quickening on their own. She ended up walking at the same pace as Malfoy, and beside him. He didn't even seem to notice her walking pace dilemma, he just kept on walking, staring ahead at nothing. She soon just gave up and strode alongside him. He didn't make any remarks on it, and the rhythmic click clack of their soles actually calmed any lingering nerves for the 'date'.

The moment they stepped outside, the warm rays of the sun hit her skin, and she sighed happily. After summer had gone by without having actually arrived, everyone, including her, had been feeling a bit deprived of good old vitamin d. This sudden clear day was a random occurrence, but no one was complaining.

They made their way out of the doors silently. Maybe not the most comfortable journey, but at least he wasn't insulting her.

She saw a familiar bright head of hair at the same time he saw her. Ron waved at her, smiling, but it faltered, presumably from seeing who she was standing next to. He stalked towards them, his face suspicious and alert. As if Malfoy was going to go and try to hurt her in broad daylight.

When Ron got in earshot, Hermione went to greet him, but he spoke first.

"What's he doing here?" His tone biting.

She stated plainly, "He's just going to Hogsmeade as well."

"Then why are you two standing so close?"

Hermione looked to her left, and was surprised to see that Malfoy was indeed standing extremely close. Their shoulders were touching. The odd thing was, if it had been with anyone else but her, Hermione would have said Malfoy's stance was almost protective, but then again, he was Malfoy, and she was, well, her. Had they been standing this close before? She was sure they hadn't. Had they subconsciously moved closer? No, of course not, why would she do that?

It seemed similar thoughts were running through Malfoy's head, and without warning stepped well away from her, not before Hermione saw him flinch.

A knot formed in her throat. She ignored it.

Without another word, Malfoy walked away from them. From the corner of her eye, she saw Pansy run up to him and latch on his arm. She grit her teeth. Ron, on the other hand, visibly brightened up after he left.

He grinned at her, "G'morning Hermione."

She found herself smiling back, "Morning Ron."

"Are you ready?"

She was going to state that it would have been extremely inconvenient of her to not have been ready, but she decided to spare him the lecture. "Yep."

They made their together to the carriages, where Miss. McGonagall what talking to some students, looking quite frazzled. They had to tap her on the back to get her attention.

"Oh hello miss. Granger, mr. Weasley. How many of you are there today?"

"It's just us Professor, and may I ask, what's going on?" The scene in front of was a buzz of motion.

She gave a weary sigh before answering, "Some fifth years thought it'd be funny to nick all of our carriages the day before the Hogsmeade trip. We have searched everywhere but have not located them in time. These were old ones that we found, but unfortunately, we only found a few. Would you mind sharing?"

"We're perfectly fine with it."

"Oh good. Just in here." She swept her arm and directed to the carriage to the left of her. They made their way towards it.

"I hope you find the carriages soon." Hermione added as an afterthought.

The old Professor regarded her with a tired tone, "I hope we do too. These pranks always make things so convenient. Her face was stern but Hermione saw the amused glint in her eyes. This was taking her mind off certain bad things going on at the moment. Time away from it all did everyone some good. Hermione started to wonder whether or not she should punish the people responsible, or thank them.

They headed towards the carriages, which looked about as old as McGonagall. They reached the one that she'd pointed to, and Ron stepped inside when Hermione heard him groan. She was going to ask what was wrong when she stepped inside herself and saw the other two people in the carriage. One the left, was Malfoy, and clinging to his side was Pansy. At that moment, Hermione decided that she looked uncannily like a leech. Hermione sat down next to Ron, biting her cheek to keep from commenting on it.

Pansy was giving her a death glare, albeit she ignored, though if looks could kill, Hermione wouldn't doubt that she'd be lying cold on the floor. Malfoy seemed expressionless, but he actually seemed to be showing small signs of relief. She must have been imagining it; weren't him and Pansy betrothed? Rumours had been circulating around the school about it. What average, hormonal teenage boy didn't want to be alone with their future fiancée?

The carriage jolted forward, beginning the dreaded journey ahead.

Pansy decided to break the silence first. "Oh looky who we have here; Granger and Weasley out on a widdle date. Scraping the bottom of the barrel with her aren't you Weasley?"

Hermione felt Ron tense beside her, so he grabbed his arm to stop him from doing something irrational. She continued to look out the window of the carriage, as if she hasn't heard any of it.

Pansy was obviously not satisfied with this lack of response, and unhappy about being ignored, kept talking. "I guess it's for the best, wouldn't want any mudbloods like her running around contaminating any respectable pureblood lines, though I doubt any but the likes of you would even touch such filth."

Hermione felt her blood run cold. Without having to look at Ron, she knew that his face would be bright red. If Pansy were not a girl, Ron probably would have pounced on her by now.

"You-!" He was cut off when Hermione clamped her hand over his mouth. She was not going to let someone as pitiful as Pansy rile her up and spoil what was supposed to be their first date.

"Insulato." The soundproof barrier cut off anymore insults that Pansy was bound to make. "Ignore them."

It took her a while, but Hermione got Ron to completely ignore them. They spent the rest of the ride to Hogsmeade as if it was only the two of them, talking and laughing.

When the carriage came to a stop, they hopped off first and went on their way.

"So where to first?"

Hermione found that she was really enjoying Ron's company. When Harry was there, and it was the three of them, it was still nice too, but being alone with Ron felt different. They walked around, and talked and laughed while eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The first ones that they'd eaten were actually quite pleasant, Hermione got mint while Ron got gravy. As the day wore on though, the flavours they picked out kept getting more and more disgusting. Ron got phlegm while Hermione got earthworm which promptly made her gag. After this she politely refused when Ron tried to offer her more. He just shrugged his shoulders and she watched as he got dog food, cinnamon, chilly powder and onion, but he eventually stopped too when he got an old sock.

They went around and Hermione shopped for some stationary she needed. She finally got some of the new self inking quills she'd been wanting to get since last Christmas.

She'd not so subtly hinted that she had wanted them to Ron on more than one occasion. After a week of saying how tiresome it was to have to constantly have to dip the end of a quill in ink to write, Hermione had thought that he'd gotten it, but a week later, when Christmas came by, it turned out that he went and bought her a writing journal, so she could write in it. The journal itself was actually really exquisite; leather bound and was lined with a golden rim, so of course she'd still been happy to receive it. Not quite what she'd been expecting, but she had been happy none the less.

Hours went by; hours of laughter and silliness. By the end of it, Hermione felt as if her smile wouldn't come off her face. When it was nearly time to leave, Hermione suggested they split up so he could go to the quidditch shop while she headed off to the book store. He was reluctant at first, but gave in when Seamus and Dean went by and told him about some guy and how he and some other had guy had done a triple something. Of course he hadn't said that exactly, but quidditch talk really did just go straight past her head.

She made her was towards the bookstore, taking extra care, walking the long route. She glanced behind her and watched Ron disappear from her sight before she ducked inside the shop. She quickly went straight to the section she wanted, since she knew the layout off by heart.

She strolled past the A's, then the B's, unable to resist sticking her hand out and running her hand over the spines of new books. She urged herself on as to not waste time, but as usual, found her eye caught on the title of a random book, Building a strong Relationship.

She knew what was going to happen, she would get side tracked and leave the shop hours later when in fact she'd come for specific books. She went to put the book away why new shiny letters of the spine caught her attention; limited addition. This pretty much made up her mind for her. Normally she would has scoffed at the idea of such a book, but she was definitely in need of it at the moment, besides, it gave her something for light reading. She tucked the book in her arm and kept on walking, refusing to glance side ways in case she got distracted again.

She stopped at the section of C's, curses and cures. Once upon a time, she would have searched in the divination section, or the marks section, or even the relationship section, but she knew it now for what it was; a curse. Of course if you did manage to find your mate, it was not one, but if you weren't so lucky... the rest was history.

She grabbed three on the subject that looked promising. Normally she would have gotten more, but today she was downsizing.

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw movement, and she looked to her sides. Nothing but stacks of books. Was she imagining things now?

"What's with the secrecy Granger?"

The voice was low and whispered in her ear. She involuntarily shivered. Hermione tensed, but otherwise didn't react much to Malfoy sneaking up on her. Still, she was unhappy that he caught her off guard, she thought she had been careful. Obviously not careful enough. She quickly tucked the book about curses at the bottom of her pile. She closed her eyes and gathered herself before slowly and purposefully turned on her heel to face him.

She kept her tone neutral and said with what she hoped had some conviction, "What secrecy? I was just getting some books for light reading."

He looked at the stack of books in her hand, and Hermione breathed an imaginary sigh if relief that she's had the hindsight to hide the books about curses. They would have been hard to explain, and she was not that good of a liar.

He narrowed his eyes at her, and Hermione started to get worried. It wouldn't take him much longer to realise that she was in the curse section and see something was up.

She blurted the next thing that came to mind, "Why are you following me?"

His face quickly went from suspicious, to blank. She kept her eyes on his face, and watched his mask appear again. This time, it was spiteful.

"Who said I was following you? This is a public place, is it not?" He gave her another impassive smirk.

She opened her mouth to retort, when her gaze slid past him and onto the time that the clock on the wall was showing. It must have not been working; there was no way it was already that late. To her horror, this thought was immediately expelled when she saw that it ticking along in perfect working order.

"The time! You've made me late!" Inwardly, a voice chided that her lateness was actually mostly due to her stalling, but she pretended not to have though it.

She quickly packed up her stuff and rushed to the counter and paid for her books. She looked at the clock again, biting her lip at how close they were cutting it. She tried to mentally assure herself that they wouldn't all leave without them.

She rushed back to the carriages as fast as her legs would carry her, where Hagrid was waiting.

"I'm sorry I'm late! The time completely slipped my mind!"

"It alright 'ermione. I don't mind wait'in, though I'm afraid there's only one carriage left."

She looked past Hagrid and saw that there was indeed only a single carriage.

He leaned in closer to her and whispered, "I'm afraid ye gonna hav'ta share with him." He jerked his head in the direction of Malfoy, who was looking at them with a bored expression. "Sorry 'bout that."

Determined to be undeterred, she smiled up at him, "It's alright Hagrid. It's my fault for being late anyway. If he tries anything funny, I'm always perfectly capable of defending myself."

"I know ye are. Don't 'old back either, 'cause I didn't 'ear a thing." He winked at her. She only smiled back in response.

Malfoy didn't try anything. In fact he sat straight and and immediately busied himself by looking gloomily out of the carriage window. If it wasn't for the rattling of the carriage, it would have been awkwardly silent.

Hermione wished that she were alone, as then she could start reading her books, but she wasn't. She closed her eyes and sighed.


End file.
